Oh hey. Yeah I haven't been around so much, sorry. I was busy working, schooling and getting engaged. Anyhoo, enough with the chitchat and on to the blog post!

I've been browsing these internets a long time. And one thing I've noticed in said internets is that while most sites in general are either visually interesting or informative, sites that specifically focus on PCs or Windows are usually giant bags of hurt that fulfill neither niche. Examples, you say? Alright then, Chester, please to consider:

1) PC World. Taking visual cues from (or giving them to) sister publication Macworld results in a mixed bag for IDG flagship PC World. Do they even publish a magazine? I've never seen it on newsstands. Anyway, on both sites there is a clean banner up top with a search box and the omnipresent strip Flash ad, but the similarities end there. There is one column in the middle of the page for them to pimp news, which can't be customized. AWFUL. If you want people to come to your site first for news you need to be able to let them streamline the flow so they can see what they want to. Also on PCW.com there is one of those ridiculous sidebars that should never be used. Lesson to web developers: If you have more than like seven sections on your site that won't fit in horizontal navigation, try eliminating some sections. There is no reason that someone should have to scroll down below the e-fold to get to a section that might contain what they came to your site for. What is this, a news site or a link farm?

2) Computer Shopper. Speaking of link farms, there really isn't a way to dignify what Computer Shopper does to the internet. If you have never seen the dead-tree version, it's basically a giant catalog of vendors and parts, like Newegg with a cover charge and longer lead time. And in the end, that's really all CS.com is. You can try to dress it up with how-to videos, but at the end of the day all it is is a link farm. Ups to them though for not pretending like they are anything different. Fun side note: check out what is the most popular item on their website! That's right, iWork '09, an Apple product. But even this site isn't that bad, compared to...

3) PC Magazine. God, this site is a verifiable treasure trove of how-not-tos. If you were looking for a website that replicated the feeling of wandering aimlessly in OfficeMax then PCmag.com is the place for you, my friend. Everything about it screams boring and desperate, from the myriad advertising links on the top, bottom, left and right of the site, the tiny print of the leads for articles, the countless sections in the top navigation, right down to a prominent section of free downloadable whitepapers. Oh man, whitepapers! Now that will keep people coming back! Another trouble spot: John C. Dvorak. The only tech columnist known to man that actually hates all technology, who also happens to write the back page column for PC Mag. Dudes, really. This would be the same as Us Weekly putting George F. Will on their back page to cover all of whatever fashion no-nos happen to occur in Hollywood.

Now, do you wanna know how it's done? Go to wired.com right now. That is the way to do it: big type for the headlines, no summaries, and five easy sections so you can go where you want to right off the bat. It truly is the way the internet was supposed to be done.